Our unusually dry and sunny winter has felt like late spring or early fall. But don't let warmer days and a small amount of moisture fool you; keep the sprinklers off.

With an eye out for drought, weather watchers and water district officials offer this advice: Water with restraint.

"Plants don't need as much water this time of year, even without rain," said Linda Yager, efficiency program manager for the Regional Water Authority, which represents 24 local water providers.

Lower temperatures, shorter daylight hours and moisture from fog – plus that bit of long-awaited rain – all combine to reduce the water demands of a typical landscape, she said.

The exceptions: vegetable gardens and fruit-bearing citrus trees. They need more water now, about an inch a week.

But many other plants – especially turf lawns – are dormant in winter and need little extra irrigation.

Yager recommends checking the soil before turning on the tap. Take a trowel and dig down three to six inches. If the soil is moist, keep the sprinklers off.

When you do water, soak the garden deeply. That should provide enough moisture for a week or more.

"The variations in rainfall from year to year are a constant reminder for all of us to use only what we need," Yager said. "Rain or shine, we should be good stewards of our water resources."

Camellia crazy

Twice but nearly a half century apart, Joanne Tsukamoto's artistic talents earned recognition by the Sacramento Camellia Festival.

Recently, the Sacramento woman's design was chosen from more than 50 entrants for the 2012 official camellia show button, the festival's sought-after collectible. With a nod to Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo," the button illustrate's the 2012 festival theme, "Crazy for Camellias."

Tsukamoto, a longtime ArtLinks school volunteer, won $100 and additional bragging rights. As a child in 1964, she won the festival's Safety Poster contest. What she remembers most about that earlier honor was receiving a prize from Camellia Queen Pamela Wyckoff.

Prize proves timely

Here's a holiday horror story with a happy ending.

In December, a gigantic heritage oak dropped a humongous limb on Ty Swayze's Citrus Heights garage, smashing Christmas decorations and a pingpong table. The garage roof was destroyed.

"The tree is at least 200 years old," said Bill Swayze, Ty's father. "It's a full-grown heritage oak; it's monstrous, more than 60 feet tall.

"The limb dropped around midnight and the next morning, I entered a contest on 96.9 The Eagle's website," he added. "It was pure coincidence."

From more than 300 entries, Swayze's plea for help for his son's smashed garage won the use of a PODS portable storage unit for six months. The unit is now in Ty's driveway as garage repairs are under way.

"After reading what had happened to Mr. Swayze's son, we were eager to help out," said Brian Bills, territory manager of PODS Sacramento.

Said Bill, "I'd been entering The Eagle's contests for more than a year. It seemed like it just had to happen."

Plant-athon at McKinley

The transformation of McKinley Park's memorial rose garden continues. Recently, volunteers from AmeriCorps helped the Friends of the McKinley Park Rose Garden prune about 1,100 bushes in the garden, which is being renovated by the city of Sacramento with new paths, better access and improved irrigation.

The next step: Plant more roses.

According to Friends founder Ellie Longanecker, the garden has received a donation of 465 new rose bushes. Since the garden's annual prune is out of the way, the Friends along with the Sacramento Rose Society will host a plant-athon Feb. 4. Starting at 9:30 a.m., volunteers will dig in and plant the new full-size bushes. Gardeners who want to learn how to plant roses are welcome to help out, too. Bring shovels and gloves.

For more information, call Friends coordinator Jason Davis, (916) 721-0377.

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Call The Bee's Debbie Arrington, (916) 321-1075.

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